Thoughts on the Basques and the current immigration debate

Last week I was heartened by a headline on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. "Heartened" is not usually an adjective I use in conjunction with prominent news these days, but the announcement by the Basques of northern Spain that they were offering a permanent and unconditional cease-fire for the first time in over four decades of conflict summoned a certain and unexpected burst of optimism. The Basque nationalist terrorist group ETA voluntarily disarmed and extended a cautiously received olive branch to Madrid, bowing to the utter reality of popular opposition from the majority of the Basque people, their Castilian and Catalonian neighbors, and the acknowledgment that in the shadow of the train bombings of 2004, rapprochment was necessary if their people and culture were to survive for centuries hence.

The Basque people are fiercely independent and proud, creating a singular culture that has inhabited the northern regions of the Iberian Peninsula since time out of mind. Their language is of such obscure origin, that is has no common lineage with any of the hundreds of known tongues past and present. That fact alone invigors their strong sense of autonomy and boundless ethnic pride. For the millenia that Iberia has endured conquest, invasion, and re-conquest, the Basques have persevered. In a world where ethnicities and cultures are confined to various degrees by the artificial borders of nation-states, the Basques have never quite complied. They are not unique in this regard, as anyone familiar with the plight of the Kurds in Turkey or Iraq can attest. But the Basque example is worth some reflection because it is one of the few cultures with such stark self-identity located in a modern European nation, the very same nation which once colonized the land of our southern neighbors in North America. The ancient indigenous people of what is now Mexico had their own "immigration problem" so to speak, as the course of history is rife with repeated cultural upheavals of like kinds.

Immigration debates past and present are usually framed in economic and political overtones, as if they could possibly mask the cultural ramifications, which is the far larger and more important aspect, the true flashpoint. Whether acknowledging the undercurrent of xenophobia and racism revealing its slimy underbelly - evidenced by the rise of the Minutemen in the U.S. border states - or among the more rational and less fearful among us, a discernible sense that we are living in a period of major cultural transition, where our original national motto, E Pluribus Unum (Out Of Many, One) is continuously tested anew. This is the crux of the biscuit: The immigration problem is far and away a cultural conflict first, far more than it is an economic and political clash, although I am careful not to undersell those latter crucial aspects. Ask the Irish of the mid-19th century, or the Italians of the early 20th, whether the dominant Anglo culture in America really cared about an endangerment to their jobs and livlihoods. Chances are, it was the differences the Anglo culture feared first, manifesting itself in punitive laws and discriminatory social practices against immigrants. As for the argument that the minorty culture must adapt to survive, their acculturation wasn't as one-directional as it may seem - there were always many trade-offs. They can usually adopt a bit of the dominant culture's norms, and the dominant cultures may adopt a bit from the minority cultures; whether this outcome is a result of natural acclimation and overcoming fears of the minority culture, or just a natural progression when multiple cultures choose cooperation over conflict when in proximity. Mutual survival - out of many, one - can be assured.

For the Basques, whom have largely been successful avoiding many of these cultural trade-offs, could not have avoided them altogether and have made it to the present largely intact. Basque to their marrow, they live in Spain, work in Spain, and most speak Castilian Spanish in addition to their mysterious ancient tongue - yet retain their sense of self. In the United States, the immigrants from Mexico, whether here within the boundaries of law or without, are a cultural presence which cannot be wished away, ignored, or legislated out of existence. The majority Anglo culture, which itself will be, within one or two generations, a plurality culture, cannot deter the inevitable present. There will come a time in which both sides will solve the economic and political angles to the immigration problem by accepting that shunning the fear and distrust of The Other is the first and necessary step. The Basque separatists accepted this premise a week ago. The tensions existing between enlightened multiculturalism on one end, and stifling ethnocentrism on the other, are unavoidable, but reconciable. Ignore the lessons of the Basques at our mutual peril. Out of many, we are one.

San Sebastian,a town on the coast Very lovely,

You alerted me to a grammatical faux pas... that strikes me as a double negative, so I edited accordingly.

Real good post ZW as usual.

Don

...especially since we moved to New Mexico and have had a chance to see, close up, how wonderful such cultural interweaving can be. (And problematic, too... but on the whole much more positive.) It's hard to describe the richness here, where the Spanish Colonial culture (the earliest European culture to take hold and survive in the U.S.) blends with and influences/is influenced by the Indian cultures of the Pueblos and the Navahos and the southern Plains peoples, and yet each is distinct and proud and richly beautiful with its own identity.

The more recent incomers, the Anglos and the post-Independence Mexicans of both Latino and Indian background, have brought contributions, too. I think it "works" here because although there has been much conflict and strife (violent, historically, and political/social, in more recent eras,) everyone recognizes that the whole really IS greater than the sum of its parts. It's not all ethnic harmony and singing kumbayah around the kiva, not by a long shot. But there does seem to be a certain basic respect that knits each strand to the whole, even when bitter differences are at stake.

I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's a humbling experience, but also greatly soul-expanding. Until you experience how wonderful real diversity can be, it's easy to be fearful and rejecting. I hope we'll be able to get past that, and SOON.

wistfully,
Bright

for the optimism in the eyes of wiser individuals.

the man in the mirror never blinks.
dp

considering the group in charge these days I'm not overly optimistic a solution fair to all sides is likely. Let's hope we can reconcile our differences soon - we're going to need it to recover from W years.

For reasons of geography & history, Spanish will ALWAYS be spoken here. Not that other immigrant groups haven't added to the flavor of the state: German, Polish, French/Louisianan, Pakistani, Vietnamese....

It's interesting that so many of the more rabid anti-"illegal" (& sometimes just anti-immigrant) DU'ers come from more northerly parts. Fear is an ugly thing.

by Mark Kurlansky, for a great short history of the Basques.

and I felt the same way when I saw that spooky picture of the ETA leadership on the front page of the Post. There is hope.

it's an interesting darwinian question, has Al-Quaeda basically outcompeted all the other terror groups?

What are you doing out of the Lounge?

:thumbsup:

Naw, I came out of retirement when Bush nominated John Roberts. Civil liberties is my last stand.